Stepping deeper each day

Month: June 2011

Late at night, I get the most random realizations about life, love, Jesus, and how I should be living. Then I have to tweet about it so I don’t forget what I’ve learned in the morning. Let’s check my twitter to see what I learned last night… I have a foggy memory about it, but I’d rather have a clear picture.

Christians look out for the others’ good because we’re called to, not because the “niceness” of our actions will save someone.

Oh, there it is! And all of a sudden, that extra dose of caffeine I had this morning makes all the neurons fire and remember the thought process from 11:15 pm.

The reason I used to smile at people in the grocery store and hold the door open for the people behind me as I leave some place was because I had this absurd notion that if I was nice to them, they would all of a sudden realize that Jesus is Lord and that they need Him.

Not that God can’t strike someone with a holy realization in Cub Foods, but that’s not the real reason that we are supposed to love those around us.

It’s a calling, a command, to maintain a lifestyle that lives out the love that fulfills the law. Sure, it might make a huge difference in someone’s day that I flash my pearly whites at them and make a little friendly conversation while we wait at the hair stylist’s, and that is a happy byproduct of doing what God asks of me. So, now that I’ve diagnosed what my issue is, I can make my motives right.

I go the extra mile because Jesus did, because He asks me to. That higher calling makes it more worth the extra effort.

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Reality strikes when you smell something being stir-fried in the kitchen – the reality is that I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten for hours. In perspective, there are people in the world who don’t eat for days in a row because they don’t have the means.
Okay, fine; I’m blessed.
Taking a look at the disruptions of my happy life, ones that seem painful and undeserved at the time, I see that, for the most part, I live a charmed life. I have a sense of entitlement in my life that makes me think that I should be immune to or exempt from any sort of difficulty.
This is absurd thinking, of course. And it’s not that I’m a pansy. I don’t shirk at discomfort. Pain? I tough it out. Emotional trauma? I think about it for too long, journal about it, blog about it, tell somebody else, pray about it, and eventually figure out how to solve the problem.
I’m not a wallower. But I’m not the Hulk either. Does anybody fit neatly into a category of weak or strong? There are certain things where I am more strong and some where I lack fortitude. That’s why labels are so hard to place on myself. I should also find it a challenge to place them on others, since I know that appearances are deceiving and dot fully represent an individual, but I definitely label people more easily than I should.
Something I should learn is that everyone deserves a chance to show me their entire self before I decide who they are and if they’re worth my time.
Wait, shouldn’t everyone be worth my time?

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About Ashley:

As many writers do, I love coffee and freshly sharpened pencils and letting my mind run wild. Things I think about: my Savior, ways to spend my time more efficiently, breathing deeply, how to incorporate garlic into everything I cook, why I'm always hungry, people I love, people I don't love, why I don't love some people, music, art, beauty of any form, bringing God's kingdom to earth, and where I am on my journey.

If I'm not blogging here today, I'm probably over at arecipetocallhome.wordpress.com, talking about food and my experience with it! Check it out.